Allen World Tour 2009-10 » Australia

Pic of the Day: November 23

jpallen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:35:16 +0000

Just like back home…the Richmond district in Melbourne, as in San Francisco, is an HQ of Asian cuisine. We visited for one last Asian food blast before leaving this fine city.

I think we had Vietnamese sandwiches for lunch, not fish balls or fried tofu. But this made for a better visual.

Pic of the Day: November 22

jpallen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:29:28 +0000

Just before leaving Australia, we met up with Sharon’s co-worker from One Market, Daniel, at Melbourne’s Spanish street fair. As an SF State exchange student, we were interested to hear about the differences between US and Australian academics, especially in light of the huge size of Australia’s education industry for foreign students.

Alongside giant paella pans, we chatted about Melbourne, San Francisco, Poland, and all the other global locations we jet-setters are hanging out in these days.

Pic of the Day: November 21

jpallen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:21:34 +0000

The line between business and pleasure in Melbourne is especially blurry. Featured here is an afternoon work session at the Little Creatures brewery in Fitzroy, yet another great neighborhood in Melbourne.

Strangely, the drafts were more expensive than the bottles. The whole price of booze in Australia kept my lifestyle unnecessarily healthy.

Pic of the Day: November 20

jpallen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:54:29 +0000

This is the ‘Mr. Moon’ doorway to Luna Park, Melbourne’s historic amusement park in St. Kilda. Founded in 1912 by the same American showman who would go on to found Warner Brothers, Luna Park features the oldest (but definitely not the scariest) continuously running roller coaster in the world, the death-defyingly named ‘Scenic Railway’.

The eternal battle for the soul of retro, between earnest youngsters and irony-seeking hipsters, is fought out here every summer weekend.

Pic of the Day: November 19

jpallen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:46:55 +0000

We visited an art display dedicated to the muscial career of one of Australia’s ‘family jewels’, AC/DC.

I hadn’t thought much about them since high school, but seeing videos of some of the early performances gave me a new-found respect for the band. If nothing else, they were extremely hard-working. In the year before their big breakthrough albums, they played something like 200 shows. And at every show, they rocked like maniacs. The picture here shows the boys after one of their shows. Looks like they left everything on stage.

I can’t get into the whole stadium rock thing of their late career, but an early video like “It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Want to Rock and Roll” shows their charm, if you can believe someone using such a word for AC/DC.

Pic of the day: November 18

jpallen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:40:15 +0000

Why have a mere bookstore, when you can have a Knowledge Center?

Good cities are full of surprises and possibilities. We found plenty of interesting corners in Melbourne, without even scratching the surface during our month there. There’s still lots to explore.

Pic of the Day: November 17

jpallen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:27:13 +0000

Melbourne is a huge foodie town. The Queen Victoria market is a food paradise, both for everyday and the fancy stuff. Here you can see the Mrs. working the mustard and chutney samples.

When I think back to our time in Melbourne, I’ll think of all the great food within a few blocks of the office. I only wish the exchange rates were a wee bit more in our favor when we scanned the menus.

Pic of the Day: November 16

jpallen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:13:44 +0000

Christmas in the southern hemisphere is summertime! When you watch the massive Melbourne Christmas parade, bring your sunscreen and your water bottle, because it’s going to be long and hot.

The parade features dancing troops, sports heroes, sweaty elves, and of course the dark lord himself, Darth Vader, with his imperial stormtroopers.

Pic of the Day: November 15

jpallen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:57:56 +0000

Australia, Chile, California, the Western Cape…all home to similar Mediterranean climates. So there’s always the potential for plants to be transferred from one place to another, often with unpredictable results.

Not too many California plants have come to Australia, but Australians brought their eucalyptus trees to California during the gold rush. The eucalyptus trees have been a mixed blessing. But Australia has suffered much more from foreign transplants like frogs and rabbits.

Pic of the Day: November 14

jpallen — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:38:49 +0000

Flower close-ups are easy in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens, one of the finest gardens anywhere. A good place for academic widows to hang out when the hubby is busy pulling his hair out over an errant paragraph at the office.